The initial threshold of a motion to dismiss an action under Ontario’s anti‑SLAPP legislation is whether the proceeding arises from an expression relating to a matter of public interest. Courts continue to grapple over the issue of whether a dispute is “public” rather than “private” and what a party must show to overcome this initial threshold.
In Rajic v. MacDonald, 2026 ONCA 288, the Court of Appeal for Ontario overturned a motion judge’s decision on the basis of errors committed during the initial stage of the anti-SLAPP test. In particular, the Court of Appeal clarified that an expression does not need to be widely disseminated, or even made public, to relate to a “matter of public interest”.
